I Think I've Solved a Problem

Sometimes I feel like a round peg in a square hole. Many of you know that I'm a contributor to a product review blog with some long-time friends I met when we were all writing for Squidoo. I have a post due every other Wednesday. And this weekend I've not had one idea.
About half the time I write book reviews, but rarely earn anything with those. Sometimes I've got household products I can honestly give good reviews, so I post reviews on those. But the truth is that selling is not my passion. I rarely made commercial posts on Squidoo, either. It's hard for me to write about things I don't care much about.
Then, a few minutes ago, it came to me. There is something I care about. I love where I live and I love nature and I love putting pictures of those interests on Zazzle products and selling those. So tonight I will make a few more Zazzle products picturing one of my favorite subjects -- the Salinas River. I can get excited about creating, and writing at least 300 words explaining the photos I'm promoting on the products will be a picnic.
I think whenever I don't have a product I really care about, I'll just review a place and the zazzle products I made to relate to it. I'm not sure whether to make puzzles or posters tonight. Postcards sell better for me than anything because they are cheap, but I am lucky to make .11 on one. I do better if someone buys postcards in quantity.
If you saw a photo you really liked, would you be more likely to want it on a jigsaw puzzle, a poster, a greeting card, a phone case, a mousepad, a tee shirt, a mug, or an ornament? Which would you be more likely to buy as a gift for someone? If you are a tourist buying postcard, to you prefer to have the place name on the back or the front of the card? I'm just curious. Do you like to personalize products like mugs or phone cases?
Now I finally know what I can write about for Wednesday. Problem solved. Is there a problem you're trying to solve right now?

I usually prefer a poster to other things, I do not like a lot personalized mugs, phone cases or T-shirt. I prefer to see the name of the place in front of the postcard. When I insert them in the albums I like to see the name of the place without the need to remove the postcard.

Zazzle has those, too, and I have a few. I just didn't want to mention the great variety of products Zazzle makes for people. I've only made a few of them. Here's one of my favorite products, and I've sold it. I took the photo in Morro Bay. Then I made this clock.

Be warned. It takes lots of products and some time before you will see any money. You will also need to blog or find another way to promote your products to get traffic. Just because you post your products doesn't mean anyone will see them. A lot of very good products I know are there don't show up when I search for them. Search results were much better a few years ago.

@bagarad We have lost all the fruit trees that were here when we moved in a few years ago.Two were rotten inside so we took them down and the other one the horses stripped and killed. They loved too many parts of that pear tree. But I have new ones planted.

That's great. I sell postcards mostly ones I took on vacation in California and Mexico.. But I did make one for Elizabeth Park in Hartford featuring a cherry tree in bloom and that sells on postcards and some posters.
I sell plenty of phone cases.. but not ones of a specific place. :( I do usually leave them the ability to edit and add or change a name that I might have added... sometimes I will make the item both personalize and not. and don't forget Pillows. they sell sometimes too. I have more sales of animal and flower close ups and stuff like that than of places.
I have only sold a few puzzles. flowers sell well on just about everything..
But I am the same way as you.. I have to be excited and passionate about something to be able to talk about it!

@bagarad That's great.. I should make more.. but I tend to make the bigger ticket items as much as i can. so I get higher pay.. I was selling a lot of phone cases for a while... I don't sell as many now.. but I have a pillow that sells VERY VERY well.. so that keeps some money coming in.. along with other things... wrapping paper, tote bags, car mats, leggings, dog t-shirts, clocks..
I haven't had any luck with plates... have you sold any? my friend sold a couple last month.. but she has awesome art. looks great on a plate..

@minx267 No, I've not sold any plates yet that I can remember. I haven't even made some of the things on your list, but I have made phone cases, pillows, wrapping paper, and clocks. I have sold clocks, but not the others.

Hmmm... I have collected different postcards from my area for years. I prefer seeing the name of the postcard on the front of the card so nobody keeps trying to turn the card(s) over to see where it is from or what it is about.
I'm not much for posters, tee shirts, mugs or phone cases. On the rare occasion that I buy something (from your options) to give as a gift, I usually purchase tee shirts.

I love jigsaw puzzles. I'm working one right now that's a huge challenge and only 500 pieces. So, I would buy a jigsaw puzzle for sure, and most likely a mug. I have a lot of mugs, and one I bought a couple years ago when I went on my holiday, was a mug depicting all the different locations Washington Island features. I love that mug and use it all the time. So, before all those other items, I'd buy a mug. I also have a lot of t-shirts for the different things I do, and a hoodie from Washington Island. I like reminders of places I visit. I also picked up a lot of postcards, and it doesn't matter what side of the card the place name is, as long as it's there. I like sending postcards and have sent a few to friends here.

@just4him I hear you. But I love my collection because most of them were gifts and remind me of the people who have them to me, especially the ones from my children. They are gone, but their gifts aren't.

Sounds like a great idea, and goes right along with an age old adage about writing in general. "Write what you know." As for Zazzle, I don't do it. Coffee mugs are always useful in my household, but I generally don't like to pay a lot for them, and have way too many now. As for solving problems, selling a duplex is one...it will be solved once I actually sell it. Tired of being a landlord.

I'm also tired of being a landlady. My husband basically takes care of the management and I check to see if the rents have come in or anything else I need to do on the computer. But my husband will be eighty next year, and managing property is a job I just don't want. I'd like to sell the Templeton property. He wants to build an expensive home on it. I don't want to make that kind of investment in this state anymore and I don't want to move and live on rural property anymore. Maintenance there is a pain. And I don't want to have him die when something is half built. He also wants to build a house on another lot we own. I wish he'd just sell it.

At the moment I have lots of problems I am working on. Though luckily none of them personal all professional. My job (at the moment anyway) is looking at how my company does things and finding a better way to work. I find the best way to come up with ideas and solutions is to do something else. I get my best ideas when I’m walking.

That is awesome that the photos you take are selling even if it is for so little for a postcard. Maybe I will have to give this a try. Although I usually prefer to share my photos on Facebook with people I know.

Are you allowed to write about how you make money elsewhere, out rather including your products from Zazzle into your blog?
I'm just trying to get things done at my desk. I had a small problem for a bit until I found a paper trail to check my thinking.
I got a letter from the government. It seems that I forgot to include the signature page with my payment for the end of last year. They'd already cashed my check but my bookkeeping didn't seem to verify my figures. Thankfully, the state allowed me to look and print my work done from previous years so I could confirm my yearly figures were correct and with those I could reproduce what I meant to send before.
I think I sent it all but maybe neglected to put our name on the second page and they misplaced that one after cashing my payment.
I would like to get more involved with producing articles for hubpages as I'm starting to make more there and more articles would up my income. But I lack the motivation currently.

Same here. But I like making postcards of my local area that I know won't be in the local shops for tourists. That way people can get cards for the special places that commercial photographers don't bother with.